PMD: Legend of Illusion
by WishMakerStorytelling
Summary: Become Flareon, second-in-command of Team Ragnarok, an exploration team based in Treasure Town, specializing in murders. Join partners Absol, Luxio, and Frogadier as they accompany young Minun on the most dangerous mission of their lives.
1. Here Comes Minun

I crossed my legs as I sat, back up against a wall. I looked over and watched the rest of my group as they did various tasks. There were four of us. Frogadier was tossing water shurikens against a wall. Luxio was reading a book. Absol was looking back at me. My name is Flareon, I'm a member of Team Ragnarok, a four-Pokemon exploration group that specializes in murder cases. We're based in a place called Treasure Town. Several years ago, two Pokemon stopped Darkrai's scheme. The four of us were watching when that happened, from the shadows. How we weren't spotted was a mystery to me. After Darkrai's defeat, we followed the group back to Treasure Town and, after several weeks, made our presence known and established a team. We've been handling the dark and grisly cases that the Exploration Society can't handle. After Wigglytuff's retirement a year or so ago, Lucario had stepped in and now runs the Society just as well as Wigglytuff did. Lucario is a friend of ours, and occasionally comes on missions. His partner, Blaziken, also comes sometimes.

"Flareon." I shook my head. "Hey, Flareon. Out of your daydreams." I looked over and saw Absol speaking.

"Uh… what is it?"

"Someone's knocking at the door! It's your job to answer knocks at the door." reluctantly, I shook myself off and stood up on all fours. I trotted over to the door and pushed it open, and came face-to-face with a small Pokemon.

"Hello… I'm looking for Absol..." the little Pokemon shook its head nervously, and Absol raised her voice.

"Speaking. What do you need, little one?" she lowered her gaze gently. For a Pokemon who can foresee natural disasters and is an embodiment of darkness, Absol is actually a very sweet Pokemon with a soft spot for those weaker than her. The little Pokemon, who I recognized as a Minun, looked up.

"You're the leader of Team Ragnarok, right?" he asked nervously.

"Yes, I am. Don't be so nervous. I don't attack Pokemon weaker than I am. What do you need?" she asked again, her voice still level and kind.

"Um… well, you see… I wanted to join your team..." now _that_ raised Absol's eyebrows, and she laughed.

"Do you know what kind of work we dabble in? Murders, mostly. Very few Pokemon have the stomach to see another Pokemon dead on the ground, covered in blood. I… don't think you have the stomach for this kind of work." Minun looked down, crestfallen, and turned around and started to walk away. "But." Minun turned around and raised his head. "I haven't said no. No one ever applies for this job, and we need a new face around here. I'll discuss it with the rest of the team. Shut the door and wait." Minun closed the door. Luxio and Frogadier looked up.

"Absol… are you sure we should consider Minun? After all, he isn't very strong, and given the way he looked like he was about to curl up and faint just from the sight of you, doesn't look like he can handle a double murder." Luxio tapped her claws against the wood floor and waited for Frogadier to speak.

"Luxio… I know you have your doubts, but remember this. Minun had the courage to come to our place of residence and ask to be hired with the full knowledge of the kind of work we do. Just that alone makes me think we should hire him. Flareon?" Frogadier looked at me, and I shrugged.

"I don't see why not. It's your choice, Absol." I tossed my head back and looked at her, and she smiled.

"Then it's settled. Let's go tell him our choice." I trotted over to the door, opened it, and tapped Minun on the shoulder. He turned around and looked at me.

"Yes?" he asked, nervously.

"Welcome to Team Ragnarok." I could see his face light up, and he jumped.

"Really? Yay! So… what happens now?" he asked, jumping around.

"Follow me inside. I'll introduce you to the team." I turned and walked inside, Minun bouncing after me.

"My name is Absol. I'm the leader of Team Ragnarok. I specialize in conversations and leadership. I think you'll like me. I tend to take it easy most of the time, though I go serious when we're on missions." she jerked her head to me.

"I'm Flareon, the second in command of Team Ragnarok. I'm the brawn around here, and I'm usually the one that does the majority of the reckless behavior. I like spending time at Spinda's cafe." I pointed one paw towards Luxio, and she cleared her throat.

"My name is Luxio. I'm the quietest here, and I'm in charge of the team's item cache. Come to me when you're hurt or looking for an advantage, I'll have whatever you need. I like to spend my time in Kecleon's shop." she smiled and turned her head towards Frogadier.

"I'm Frogadier. I'm the voice of reason to those two-" he pointed at me and Absol, "-and I'm the scout, using my speed and cunning to go ahead of the rest and put myself in danger to report back with additional knowledge. Without my insight, Flareon would have killed himself years ago, waltzing into crap he wouldn't have known without me. I like to spend my time at Sharpedo bluff."

"And that's our team. Welcome aboard, Minun. Now tell us some about yourself," Absol said, gesturing one paw towards Minun.

"Well… as you all know, I'm Minun, and my sister is Plusle. She recently got accepted into Team Electra, a high-caliber exploration team based in Lively Town. They rejected me, so I came here and made a life for myself collecting berries until I decided to come join your team. I like berries," he finished, and looked up. Absol smiled, and Minun did too.

"Your training begins tomorrow. Now, everyone, let's get some rest. We have a big day ahead. Minun, you sleep here." Absol tapped her paw against a bundle of straw, and Minun sat down on it and curled up. With a splash of water, Frogadier extinguished the controlled flame we used for light, and the smell of sweet smoke filled the air as, one by one, we fell asleep. It was several hours later before I struggled awake, and as I looked at the empty straw nest, I wondered for a second who used it before I remembered that Minun had joined us the night before. He, Absol, and Frogadier were nowhere to be found. I assume they had gone out for some early morning training. Luxio was still snoring softly on her cushy patch of straw, lined with feathers. I let her be and trod over to the small fountain and took a drink from it. The cool water washed over my face and down my fur, dripping back into the pool. I tossed some of the water down my back, and as it ran off my fur, dirt and grime came off with it. Shrugging, I tossed myself into the pool and started rolling around, feeling the months of hard work and dirt rinse off my fur. I smiled and made happy sounds as I splashed around, sending water into the air around me. Eventually, after several minutes of splashing, I stood up and shook my fur off, spraying droplets of water everywhere. I looked up and saw Luxio, who had raised her head, looking at me, humored.

"You did not see anything!" I said, looking at her with false anger. She laughed and looked back at me.

"Of course not, Mr. Tough Guy. I never saw you frolicking around in that pool like you were an Eevee again. Whatever happened to you being, I don't know, Fire-type?" she smiled, and I could tell she was teasing me.

"I was not frolicking! I was bathing! There's a difference!" I looked at her, stubbornness in my eyes, then gave it up, laughing. She stood up and shook off her ruffled fur, and looked back at me.

"Shall we go find the others?" she tossed her head back towards the door, and I started walking towards it. I pushed the door open with my shoulder and held it there for her as she walked out. She giggled a bit, and pressed her muzzle to mine, which made me blush about as much as a Flareon could. We walked side by side out into the town square. Despite us being both similar Pokemon, neither of us ever had romantic feelings for each other, though she was publicly affectionate to me. It never really bothered me, I had just learned to go with it. Luxio trotted up to Xatu's shop and propped herself onto her hind legs, her paws on the counter. "Have you seen Absol and Frogadier around?" she asked, and looked Xatu in the eye.

"Nope, Miss Luxio. Haven't seen either of them. Are they not with you?" Xatu tipped his head curiously. "The four of you always do everything together. However… I have seen the two of you spending more and more time together recently. I guess you're in luck, Flareon, because you two are in the same egg group." Xatu laughed, and Luxio flashed a paw, cuffing him on the cheek.

"You had better watch your tongue! One more remark like that and I'll think twice about bringing you my boxes! I can always have Flareon here Flare Blitz into them, and break them open!"

"You do know Flare Blitz hurts me, right?" I asked nervously.

"You're ramming into boxes, not enemy Pokemon. Relax, I'm making a joke," she added, smiling. "All the same, let's go ask around. I'm sure somebody has seen those three." Luxio turned to leave before Xatu reached out a wing and touched her shoulder.

"Three? There's you, Flareon, Absol, and Frogadier. That's four, not five. Who's the fifth?" Xatu tipped his head.

"We recruited a Minun last night. I'm assuming the three are out training together, so we're looking to find them. I'm not sure where they went. I'm sure someone around town knows. Bye, Xatu!" Luxio turned and trotted away. I looked at Xatu, shrugged, and started after her. Luxio went from Pokemon to Pokemon, asking if any of them had seen the others. Eventually, I looked over, and saw Lucario walking into town.

"Yo! Lucario! Over here!" I raised a paw and waved. Lucario saw me and began walking over.

"Flareon. And Luxio. What is it?" Lucario stopped in front of me and got down on one knee so he was level with me.

"Have you seen Absol and Frogadier anywhere? They left early in the morning, with our new recruit, and we don't know where they went." Lucario put a hand to his chin.

"Hmmm… I believe I have. I saw them at the Guild this morning as I was walking out. I assume this new recruit is the Minun they had with them?"

"Yep. He was accepted last night. I'm assuming they went out for early morning training. Thanks for the tip!" Luxio turned and started walking towards the guild. I shrugged and turned to walk after her. As we were walking, I tapped her on the shoulder.

"Luxio. Perhaps they aren't in the Guild anymore. I have a feeling they're down by the beach." I turned and started walking down the road to the beach, and I could hear Luxio padding alongside me. As we rounded the bend to the beach, I could hear voices. As I strained my ears, I could hear Absol and Frogadier's voice. I ducked behind a bush, and waved my paw for Luxio to do the same. She ducked down next to me and pressed against me, looking through the same hole in the bush I was. I watched Absol and Frogadier take turns attacking Minun, and having him them fight them off and listen to their criticism.

"Remember to keep all sides of you watched at all times. Enemies can come at you from all sides," Absol said, nodding her head as she spoke.

"You know..." Minun said, looking up at Absol.

"Uh huh? What is it?" she asked, tilting her head, smiling.

"For a dark type, you're awfully cute, you know that?" Minun grinned.

"Ahem!" Absol fixed Minun with a hard stare, all humor draining from her face. Minun shrank back. Even Frogadier took a step back.

"Not the time…?" Minun asked.

"No. Can we get back to training now?" Absol scraped her claws along the ground in front of her. I decided to make our presence known.

"He's right, you know," I said, stepping out from behind the bush. I smiled as I trotted into the beach, Luxio behind me.

"How long have you two been here?" Absol asked.

"Only a few minutes. Have you three been here for hours?" I asked, tilting my head.

"Yeah, ever since the sun came up. You two were still snoring. We decided to leave you. Well, since you're here, you can train alongside us." Absol turned back to Minun, but he just stood there, hands behind his back, looking down.

"Um… now that all of us are here, I need to ask something of all of you..."

"Yes. What is it?" Frogadier asked.

"The real reason I came… wasn't just to get training."  
"Oh? Then… why did you come?" Luxio asked, tipping her head to one side and looking at Minun.

"There's this." Minun reached around to his pack and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Absol. "Read it, please." he folded his hands and looked at Absol intently, and she took the paper in one paw and flicked it open. We gathered around her as she read.

"Team Ragnarok, my name is Plusle. I need you to help me and my team. We're located in the thirtieth floor of Mystical Jungle. I'm sending this with my brother, Minun. Thank you in advance, Plusle." Absol folded up the letter. "Minun… is this written in blood?"

"Yes… she really needs your help. Will you help her?"

"She's in Mystical Jungle. we have to help her. It'll be difficult… I don't know what the place is, but we will go help your sister."


	2. Enter Mystical Jungle

Minun smiled, and gave a little hop. As happy as he was, a trip to Mystical Jungle would be incredibly hard. The dungeon was renowned for it's difficulty and strong enemy Pokemon, and even teams that were far more capable than ours had fallen in that dungeon many times. The thought of setting paw in there scared everything out of me. I don't care who was asking, at the end of the day, I kind of liked living past the fifth floor of any given dungeon. Absol looked over at me, and I slowly nodded my head, knowing full the danger I would be getting into. I have no idea if I'm going to survive that place. All the same, I'm not just going to turn down a Pokemon in need, regardless of the danger I put myself in. I turned around and gave Luxio a tap on the shoulder.

"Well, everyone, as you all know, Plusle is in Mystical Jungle. We're going to have to gather all the supplies we can. We'll set out tomorrow. The sooner the better. Now, back to HQ." Absol turned and started walking, and the rest of us followed her. Back at our base, we all took seats and turned to look at Absol. "Right… each of you. Luxio, you go around and get all the supplies you can. Golden apples, reviver seeds, exclusive items. We're going to need them. Pull out of our savings if you need to. Flareon, I need you to go around town and gather all the information you can about Mystical Jungle. We're going to need to know what we're walking in to. Frogadier, take Minun and go train. I'll mentally prepare myself for this trip, and I'll be here if any of you need me. Now, we don't have a second to waste- go." Each of us turned away and began going about our assigned tasks. Without meaning to, I found my paws taking me to Spinda's Cafe. I trotted down the steps and saw a group of Pokemon, an Altaria, Typhlosion, and Mienshao. I sat down at the empty chair at the table, and looked at them.

"Do you need something?" Altaria asked, and I cleared my throat before responding.

"Have any of you been to a place called Mystical Jungle? It's supposed to be a really difficult place, and I'm looking for insight before my team heads off there." I looked back at Altaria, and she lowered her head, thinking. Typhlosion raised his hand, and called for a round of berry smoothies from Spinda. He lowered his hand and started to speak.

"If I'm correct, Mystical Jungle is home to the most powerful of Pokemon. Volcarona, Sceptile, Haxorus… you'll find only the strongest there. I went there once myself, and barely escaped with my life." he nodded towards Altaria.

"It's home to all sorts of traps and monster houses. If your team has a good scout, those will be no problem. However, bring lots of Poke. There are special items and rare treasures you can only get from the vendors there." Altaria reached into her pack, and pulled out a small globe. "My treasured Sky Globe I purchased from a vendor there. Typhlosion might have something you can use." she nodded to Typhlosion, and he reached into his own pack and, after a bunch of rummaging, pulled out a red collar and handed it to me.

"It's a Fire Collar, Flareon's exclusive item. I collect Fire-type exclusive items, but I figure you can use this one far better than I. Mienshao, do you have anything to add?" Mienshao put a hand to her chin and thought, then began to speak.

"You will need many supplies. Golden apples and reviver seeds are a must." Mienshao reached into her pack and pulled out a four-pack of golden apples, and passed them to me. "Give each of your party members one of those to eat when you become hungry. Also, take this." She reached back into her pack and pulled out a seed that glowed gold. "This is a Golden Seed. It will increase the levels of one of your team members by five, or if one of you has the Pierce Hurler IQ skill, it can increase three of your levels by five. Use it when you start." Mienshao passed me the seed, and I put all the items in my bag gratefully.

"I appreciate the help. I'll go deliver news to my teammates." I smiled, and grabbed my smoothie with one paw. I had made a special thing I put around my neck that would allow me to drink my smoothie while walking. I stuck it in my necklace-thing and sipped it as I walked. As I passed by the store, I saw Luxio haggling for a price on an item. I let her be as I continued walking back to our base. I arrived at the base and pushed open the door, and saw Absol crouched down, holding something. "Absol?" my voice made her jump, and she shoved the item back into her pack and turned around to look at me.

"Yes, Flareon? Do you need something?" I walked over and sat down next to her, and unpacked my bag. I took a few sips of my smoothie while she ran her paw over the items, examining each of them in turn. "These will be very helpful. Where'd you get them?" I explained to her about Altaria, Typhlosion, and Mienshao. "They were very nice to give us those items. They may very well save our lives. Go get Luxio and Frogadier, I'll explain our plan." With that, I pushed open the door and walked back out into the square, sipping the last of my smoothie down as I tapped Luxio on the shoulder and told her what we were doing. She walked by my side as we walked to the dojo to find Frogadier and Minun. They were there training there. Luxio walked inside, and a few minutes later, walked back out with Frogadier and Minun. Together, the four of us walked back to the base, and I pushed the door and held it open for the others. Together, we sat down and looked at Absol.

"The plan is to leave at dawn. Flareon, can you tell the group everything you know?" she nodded to me, and I began to tell the group what I had learned about Mystical Jungle. "Good… those items should come in handy. Luxio, what have you gathered item-wise? Like a supplies list." Luxio nodded, and began to say the items as she laid them out on the ground.

"Eight total golden apples, twelve reviver seeds, the Fire Collar, a Glare Sash for myself, a Disaster Torc for Absol, and an Aqua Globe for Frogadier. Four oran berries, eight max elixirs, four keys, the golden seed, a set of rare fossils, and two pure seeds." She ran her paw over each of the items and backed them back into her bag. I looked outside and saw that it was getting dark.

"It's getting late, everyone. It's time we head to sleep. We're going to have a big day tomorrow." With a splash of water, Frogadier extinguished the fire, and as the smell of smoke filled the air, each of us drifted to sleep. The next morning, Absol shook the rest of us awake, and I shook my head sleepily. Not even the first rays of dawn had come over the horizon as our team sleepily gathered in the crossroads. Frogadier pulled out a map and put one finger on our destination, and we wordlessly set out for Mystical Jungle. Over mountains and across rivers, through caves and between trees in forests. It was a long, several-day trek, and eventually, we arrived at the entrance to Mystical Jungle. I looked at Absol worriedly, and she nodded towards the entrance. In a single-file line, we followed Absol in to the dungeon. At the beginning of the first floor, Absol called a group meeting. "Okay… we all know the rules. Nobody moves until we do, so let's take our time. Don't split up, there's strength in numbers. Let's get to the end of this place. Tensely, we followed Absol. I reached up and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Absol? Our exclusive items, please." Absol reached into her bag and handed each of us our exclusive items. I put mine in my pouch and continued to follow her.

"Everyone. Look." Absol gestured in front, and I craned my neck around her and saw an enemy Garchomp just standing there… menacingly. "Everyone, fan out. Approach as a line. Minun, stay in the back." We fanned out and approached the Garchomp. Absol ran forward with a Night Slash, and I followed with an Iron Tail, and after I did, Frogadier sealed the kill with a Dark Pulse. The Absol collapsed to the ground, and I felt the similar rush as I gained experience points. That wasn't so hard, but again, this was only the first floor. It would get much harder. Absol led us through the dungeon, with Minun picking up items as we went as the rest of us handled the fighting. Frogadier requested an oran berry, Luxio reorganized items to fit more, and I hurt myself again and again with Flare Blitz.

The first couple floors went by as normal, and at first I couldn't tell what the problem was. It didn't seem all that difficult until we hit the fourth floor. It was going deceptively easily, and I reminded Absol to up our guard. The very next room we came upon a pair of Pokemon, a Goodra and a Eelektross. Absol nodded to me and Frogadier, and we approached with caution, feinting to get them closer. She lunged at Goodra with a Night Slash, and I cannoned into Eelektross with a Flare Blitz. Eelektross winced and fell to the ground. I was stronger than I gave myself credit for, it seems. Frogadier put out a Dark Pulse, and Goodra growled in anger. Its claws flashed blue and red as Goodra scored them down Absol's flank. She screeched in pain and collapsed to the ground. Gasping, Luxio rushed over to her and crushed up a reviver seed, putting the crushed bits down Absol's throat. She coughed, and rose back to life, glaring at Goodra before lunging at it with a Night Slash. It groaned and fell to the ground, and I felt the rush as I leveled up.

"Level 41!" I smiled and felt the power come to me. "Hmmm… Should I learn Last Resort?" I looked around at the group, and saw them nodding. "So… right now, I have Last Resort, Flare Blitz, Crunch, and Iron Tail. That's a solid set." I shook myself, and nodded to Absol to continue on. A couple rooms later, we came across a Kecleon shop. I trotted in happily and looked at Luxio. She managed our money, so she was in charge of shopping. She walked around and picked up items, holding them out to Kecleon to name a price. She purchased a two Proteins and a Calcium. Absol and I drank a Protein each, and Frogadier downed the Calcium. _I swear, I do more dungeon crawling than anyone else I know…_ B8F, and we were weakening. After that floor, we emerged into a clearing. It was dark, and I heard a booming voice.

"Who goes there?!" Absol dropped into a fighting stance before responding.

"Team Ragnarok. We're looking for Plusle, we don't mean you any harm." She stood up and motioned for me to do the same. I assumed a nonthreatening pose as I saw the creature drop down. I cringed and took a step back as a Salamence slammed down in front of me.

"You've made a terrible mistake in coming here… I see no reason to let you through alive. Your lives end here!" Salamence gave a loud roar, and I dropped into a fighting stance, ready to attack.

"Come at us." Absol gave the signal, and I charged forward, the battle beginning.


	3. Welcome to the Forest

Absol bared her fangs as she dropped into a battle stance, and I could feel the power of the night coursing through her claws as she leaped forward and scored them across Salamence. It roared, and shook off the attack. My turn. With a grunt, flames swirled around me as I cannoned myself into Salamence with a well-aimed Flare Blitz. Frogadier dropped to the ground and slapped his hands together, and darkness pulsed from his body towards Salamence, making it roar again. Luxio roared towards the sky and sent a bolt of lightning down with Thunder, sending volts around Salamence's wings. It roared again, and its claws flashed red and blue as he slashed down in front of Absol. She narrowly sidestepped and its claws crashed down in the place Absol had been not a minute before. Angered, her claws again gleamed black as she bounced up, scoring them across Salamence's face. It was a critical hit. I decided to try something a bit different. As my tail started to gloss over with iron, I whirled around, sending my iron-covered tail into Salamence's body. It roared in pain. Frogadier again slapped his hands together, and Dark Pulse battered at Salamence. The creature was far from fainted, though. I watched as it raised its head and roared to the sky. At first nothing happened, then I heard meteors crashing down around us. I looked up, and I could see one hurtling straight at me. I was scared straight- my paws wouldn't move. The last thing I heard was "Flareon! No!" from Absol, then a massive pain hit my head, and I crumpled to the ground, my vision giving way to dizzying blackness.

When I came to, I saw Absol on the ground, bleeding profusely, and in front of her, Frogadier and Minun, desperately trying to hold off Salamence just long enough for Absol to heal. I knew I needed to act, and act fast. I dug around in my pouch until my paws felt a familiar gem. I pulled it out. A Fire Gem. Once only, it would greatly boost the power of my Fire-type moves. I grasped it tightly, feeling its power course into me. I buckled my legs, and with a powerful roar, shot myself, cloaked in blue flames, at Salamence. Luck had it that Frogadier sidestepped just as I did, and I collided head-on with Salamence, knocking the creature down and back several meters. It made no effort to get up, and as the flames died down, Absol stood up, coughing.

"Flareon… that was amazing. How did you do that?" I held up the gem, now drained of color and power, then tossed it aside. Drained gems had no value. "Well, either way, I'm glad you did. You've saved all of us." Absol dipped her head, and I grew hot with embarrassment until she continued to speak. "Let's continue on. Loot the cave if you so please." I trotted to the edge of the clearing and picked up various things, as well as a couple of food items. With a somewhat loud "Down the hatch!" I tossed a couple gummis into my mouth. Our group reassembled at the end of the clearing, and Absol started giving directions. "Well, it's only logical that it gets harder from here on out. Everyone, stay close." We followed close behind Absol as she led us deeper into the forest, with us battling our way through. After a few floors we came across another Kecleon shop. Luxio happily trotted through the store, picking up whatever she liked, as me and Absol fought off an enemy Flygon. She plunked several coins in front of Kecleon and he waved us out of the shop. Luxio had bought a few apples and max elixirs, supplies we needed for our journey. Each of us downed an apple before continuing on. As I stepped into a room after Absol, I felt a rush of danger. All of a sudden, the mood shifted, and enemies began to slink out from behind trees. "Monster house..." Absol said in a wary voice, and I dropped into a battle stance. Frogadier ducked his head out from behind me.

"Flygon, Jumpluff, Ampharos, Lucario, Garchomp, Scizor, Nidoking, Arcanine, Toxicroak, and Pangoro." Absol's claws glinted black as she slashed the nearest foe, Nidoking, and sent it reeling.

"Luxio! I could use some help!" Absol shouted, and Luxio started digging through our items. She pulled out a familiar blue orb and tossed it to Absol. Absol Caught the orb with one paw and tossed it up into the air. She orb glowed, then shattered, and beams of light struck each enemy Pokemon, stunning them long enough for each of to go up and deliver a powerful attack. After a while, only Ampharos and Arcanine were left. The Ampharos gave a howl and I saw a bolt of electricity crashing down from the sky. I felt the jarring impact reverberate through my body, and I dropped down to a knee. I felt my tail harden with iron, them spun around and slammed it into Ampharos. It howled with pain, and Frogadier followed up with a Dark Pulse. I heard the Arcanine roar and bring down its claws on Absol, and heard her cry out in pain as she collapsed to the ground. Luxio dashed over to her and began to reviver her. Frogadier turned back to Arcanine and slapped his hands together, and I watched as torrents of water blasted out of his hands and shower over Arcanine. That must be Hydro Pump. Arcanine collapsed to the ground with a weak roar, and I turned my attention back to Absol, who was standing up, coughing.

"Absol. Are you all right?" I asked, and Absol nodded.

"I'm fine. Go see Luxio, you need your wounds tended to. Your fur and skin are fried from where that Thunder hit you." Obediently, I shuffled over to Luxio. She pulled out an oran berry, and I chewed it up and swallowed. The subtle sweetness masked incredible healing powers. I felt my skin and fur regenerate, and I shook myself off, ready to continue. Again, we formed a line behind Absol, and we battled our way through the dungeon, with Minun picking up our items as we went. Eventually, after several floors of the usual danger and backtracking, we came to a small clearing with a pool in the center. The five of us fanned out and stared into the pool. As soon as all of us peered into the pool, it went black, and I heard rustling behind me. We all turned around in unison, and I saw shadowy figures appear from behind trees. Frogadier spoke.

"Four Shiftry and two Tropius. Get ready..." Absol dropped to a battle stance and gave a low, threatening growl. I slammed my paws to the ground and ignited in flames before launching myself at one of the Shiftry with a Flare Blitz. The impact and heat of the hit caused the Shiftry to crumple to the ground. Satisfied, I turned around and saw that none of my friends were doing particularly well. With another low growl, I ignited again and launched myself at another Shiftry who was charging up Solarbeam to hit Frogadier. It groaned and fell to the ground as I hit it. Frogadier turned around and shot Dark Pulse at a Tropius, who winced before returning an Air Slash. One enemy Shiftry slammed Absol with a Wood Hammer, and it took her several seconds to recover from the impact before she howled, sending wind slashing at the Shiftry. That must be her Razor Wind move. Again, I buckled to the ground and ignited, cannoning into a Tropius and downing it. I winced. The recoil was adding up, and fast.

"Take it easy, Flareon." Luxio reached out and handed me an oran berry, which I gladly downed. I could feel the strength surging back through my muscles, and it wasn't another second before I shot myself at the last weakened Shiftry, hurt substantially by Razor Wind. All that was left was Tropius, and Frogadier slapped his hands together and shot out a beam of ice, causing the Tropius to crumple to the ground.

"Well… done… team," Absol said, in between breaths. She looked up and smiled, then with a flick of her tail, gathered us up for the journey ahead.

"Stop." I heard a voice, and spun around. "In front of you, fool." I spun back around to see a shadowy figure standing on two legs.

"My name is Zoroark. This forest you're traveling through… it is my domain. Get out now, or consider yourselves dead. This is your last and final warning."

"Then give me my sister back!" Minun piped up angrily. "I want to see my sister again, you big bully!" he jumped once, and looked at Zoroark with anger in his eyes.

"Your sister… Plusle. Her. You've come too late. She's already dead."

"No. She's still alive. I know it. Now, let us through… or else!" Minun growled, and glared at Zoroark. Absol flicked her tail over Minun's mouth.

"I apologize for his words. We only seek to get Plusle back and leave you unharmed." She dipped her head, and Zoroark sneered.

"Your little youth needs to be taught a lesson." Zoroark grinned, and I could see his claws filling with darkness as he lunged straight at Minun. I dived in front of Minun and intercepted the claw slash, pain coursing through my body as I took the hit. I grunted and fell to the ground, looking at Zoroark with anger.

"That's the last of this. Everyone, let's go." Absol howled as wind began to spin around her. Frogadier held his hands back as a shuriken of water materialized and shot at Zoroark and Luxio shot a small ball of electricity that paralyzed Zoroark. I think the move was Electro Ball. Zoroark dived at Frogadier with a full-on attack, but Frogadier barely winced.

"Huh? For such a powerful-looking attack, how is Frogadier barely harmed?" I looked at Absol, bewildered.

"The move is called Foul Play. It turns the opponent's power against them. Frogadier is a very modest Pokemon, and that kind of personality further puts down his species's inherently low Attack, making physical attacks useless for him and reversal attacks useless against him. AbsolWiki, at your service." she smiled before letting loose the blades of wind as they cut into Zoroark. He howled in pain and dropped to one knee.

"Argh… fine. I'll see you when you come to collect your little Plusle." Zoroark stood up again and dashed off into the woods. As he ran away, I almost thought I could see the forest, the trees around me… _change._ As I watched, bewildered, where there used to be trees, there was now nothing, and where there was now nothing, there were trees. The whole landscape had changed, and it certainly didn't look prettier. The forest was more dark and moist, and I heard a voice along the winds bearing words that made my body chill. _Welcome to Illusion Forest, Team Ragnarok.._


	4. Ragnarok's Past

Our group gathered in a semicircle, taking a breather. Rest stops, like the one we were at right now, were common in breaks between two dungeons. There was a deposit box, the kind that always seemed to appear in the middle of nowhere when you needed them most. Frogadier walked over to it, spun the lock, and let the lid open. He peered inside, and started pulling out various items, seeds and whatnot. As I absentmindedly watched, something caught my eye. It was a pink piece of clothing, sticking up out of the foliage. My eyes were fixed on it. Without alerting anyone, I walked over to it, grasped it between my teeth, and pulled it out of the ground. Upon seeing what it was, I dropped it in shock. It was a pink scarf.

"Flareon? Are you all right?" Absol asked, and I was too stunned to reply. "What is that? Is it significant?" she tipped her head, and I turned back around and padded over to her, then set the scarf down in front of her.

"This was… my mother's scarf..." I shook my head a little, and Minun looked over at me. "She came here all the time when me and my siblings were young."

"You've got a family? If it isn't too much to ask, this has got me thinking… how did all of you meet? If it isn't too long of a story, I'd like to hear." I looked over at Absol, and Luxio, who nodded their heads in turn. I sat down, and I began to speak.

"Well… when I was very young, just an Eevee, I had three other siblings, as well as our parents, Espeon and Umbreon. Umbreon was on an exploration team, called Team Venturers, which specialized in adventures in far-off lands. Haxorus and Gallade were on the team with him. One day, he went on an exploration to a distant land, called Snowy Tundra. Several days later, we received an ominous letter, saying Umbreon had a terrible accident and wouldn't make it home. My siblings and I planned to sneak out at night to find our father. Call us stupid, we were just kids. My mother found us trying to sneak out, and instead of punishing us, gave us her scarf to keep warm, as well as supplies to stay alive. We pressed on as far as we could. One of my brothers… died on the way there. We pressed on, and eventually, we must have been going through this forest, because we were attacked in a forest similar to this, and lost our mother's scarf. Without it to keep warm, after we reached Snowy Tundra, my other two brothers froze to death. I was shivering and about to meet death… when Absol found me." Absol cleared her throat before she spoke.

"One day… I was at home with my parents, and we all went to bed for the night. When I awoke, I was alone, in a strange cave I didn't recognize, and I made my way out rather easily. While I was searching for my parents, I found a strange letter about a Pokemon that had a terrible accident in a place called Snowy Tundra. I didn't know it at the time, but that was Flareon's father, Umbreon. I set off to go find him and make a name for myself, and while I was there, I came across Flareon, then an Eevee, and took him to the nearest house, which as fate would have it, was Luxio's house. She graciously took us in and started to work to get Flareon back to normal. As he was almost healed, there was a knock at the door." Absol nodded to Luxio.

"I opened the door, and saw a Greninja standing there, holding a shivering Froakie. He begged me to help his son, as without my help he would die. I couldn't say no, so I took them in. After a few days, Greninja said that the life of a traveler wouldn't be suitable for raising his son, so he entrusted me with Froakie to care for and raise. So I did, and at that time, Absol pulled three stones out of her backpack that she had found on her travels. One as clear as water, one crackling with lightning, and one hot as flame. Flareon walked over to the Fire Stone, put his paws on it, and evolved. The three of us decided we were going to form an exploration team, first to find out who killed Umbreon, then to do the same for other Pokemon. I made them wait until winter had passed and Froakie had evolved into the Frogadier he is today." Luxio tapped Frogadier on the shoulder, and he began to speak.

"After journeying through Snowy Tundra for a long time, we came to the end of it… and no Umbreon in sight, but there was a Beartic. I remember… Luxio held me back while Flareon and Absol took on Beartic. There was a lot of fighting… lots of blood and pain. Eventually, Flareon chose to spare Beartic's life in return for telling the group where Umbreon was. Beartic said he had killed Umbreon, and out of fury, Flareon rushed Beartic and killed him with a Flare Blitz. It was a terrible way to go… but it had to be done. After that, we decided that together, we would go back to Treasure Town, and become an exploration team to bring justice to the Pokemon who have had family members killed. We became Team Ragnarok, and the rest is history." he put his hands back to his sides, and looked over at Minun. "Now… what's your story?" he tipped his head, and Minun began to speak.

"Well… there isn't much to it. I was always the weaker out of me and my sister, Plusle, so I got jealous when she joined Team Electra instead of me. I decided that one day I would be as strong as she is, and then I heard of you guys, right after I got word of what happened to Plusle, and I decided to come to you to help.." Absol nodded, and scratched her claws on the ground and looked over at me.

"Ah. I see. Well, heartwarming as story-time with Team Ragnarok has been… we need to get back on track and focus on the dungeon. Flareon… how do you think that wind knew our names? It couldn't have been ordinary wind. Someone was creating it." Absol tipped her head before replying.

"That I cannot tell you… I don't know what's causing it."

"A monster?" Minun asked.

"No… that's hardly likely. What's the name of this place again? Right… Illusion Forest," Absol said. "I'm sure most of what we see here are illusions. Heck, we could see the end of the dungeon and come to find out we're only on the first floor. We could be walking in circles with the illusion changing at any point. We're going to have to play this very cautiously. Are any of us good with illusions?" Absol looked over at Frogadier, who shook his head sadly.

"I am," Luxio piped up, and the rest of us turned to stare at her. "See… every illusion has a gimmick. Something that isn't quite right about it. See there… look at that tree. What looks off about it?" Luxio pointed at a tree, and the rest of us turned to look at it.

"Umm… it doesn't look the right color?" Minun asked.

"Correct. Flareon, attack the tree." I shrugged, coated myself in flames, and rocketed at the tree. As I slammed into it, the pain dissipated as the tree turned to mist. I shook myself off. "The illusions can be dispelled by the weakest of attacks. Ranged or area attacks, like Frogadier's surf or Minun's Discharge, can clear an entire room or even an entire floor of illusions. Each of our moves can dispel certain types of illusions." Luxio reached into her pack and pulled out a long sheet of paper. Absol started to read.

"Shrubbery and grassy illusions, Fire-type moves. Aquatic illusions, Electric-type moves. Illusions of darkness, Fairy-type moves. Illusions of light, Dark-type moves. Illusions of fire, Water-type moves. Other illusions, Dragon-type moves." Luxio rolled up the paper.

"The way to tell if something is an illusion is if something looks strange about it to you. See, over there-"

"Luxio, I hate to interrupt your little class on illusions here, but a dangerous forest is a bad place for a lesson. Also, we have company." Frogadier whipped his head around. I turned my head to see a Chesnaught and an Arcanine approaching.

"Prepare for battle, everyone." Luxio's claws charged with electricity as she drew them along the ground, feeling her claws charge with power. As the Arcanine drew close, she let out a high-pitched roar as she scored her claws across Arcanine. It growled and lunged at her. I saw the light of battle in her eyes melt into terror, and I buckled to spring. I shot myself off and tackled Arcanine to the ground. I felt my fangs glow white with fire as I clasped them around Arcanine. I felt his body go limp as I sprang off of it. Chesnaught threw something that looked like a huge seed, and as it hit Frogadier, it exploded. I could see the pain in his eyes. Absol growled and I saw the power of the night drain from her claws as she scored them across Chesnaught. It crumpled down and Absol set her paw back on the ground in satisfaction.

"Luxio. Are you all right?" I asked, and bent over her.

"Yes, Flareon, I'll be all right. Thanks for that. Now… we need to continue onwards. We need to rescue Plusle, and oh, do I want to go home..." Luxio stood up and leaned on me as we kept walking. Absol took the lead as usual, and Frogadier stayed a pace or two behind to keep watch for trouble. Minun stayed in the center. After several floors of annoying illusion dissipating and backtracking, we arrived at a flight of stairs that looked darker and more ominous than the rest. I looked at Absol, Luxio, and Frogadier in tandem, and we all nodded together. Silently, we padded up the stairs, into the unbroken darkness.

"How much longer..." Minun asked, and I could sense he was scared. Heck, we all were.

"I don't know. But I can't see a thing." Annoyed, I ignited and charged into the ground, and the room lit up to reveal a long, grassy corridor that dropped back into darkness just as the flames couldn't shine farther. The ground was moist and gooey underpaw, and I felt as if I could sink down and be swallowed up at any time. Then again, if it hadn't happened already, it likely wouldn't. As we reached the end of the corridor, I heard a voice.

"Turn back… turn back now." the voice seemed to come from all around, and I crouched low to the ground. Frogadier had his back to me, and Absol growled in a low voice.

"Who are you?" I asked, calling out into the darkness. "Give us Plusle back, and we will leave without a fight. But first… I wish to know your identity." As I finished speaking, I saw a shadowy figure drop from above. It was bipedal, and black.

"My name… is Zoroark. And this is my home. All those who come here… are never to return alive."


	5. The Final Fight

I dropped down into a comfortable fighting stance, tense and ready to spring the second Absol gave the command.

"We only seek to get back Plusle. We mean no harm to you." Absol assumed a nonthreatening stance, making me ease my guard a little.

"Yes. My sister," Minun added.

"Right… the little electric brat. Pain in the tail she was to keep tied down. At least Raichu got out of her what he needed." Zoroark snickered, and I saw a Raichu slink out of the darkness to stand by him. I wanted to launch myself at him and slice that smug, superior look off of his face.

"You brutes… what kind of horrible things did you do to my sister?!" Minun growled. "Tell me!"

"Minun. Hush. We aren't here to start a fight. We just want to get your sister back. That's all we want. We don't want a fight."

"I'm afraid… it's too late for that. You've trespassed into our domain in pursuit of that arrogant little brat, coming here with the rest of her team. The rest were dead. She would have been as well, but Raichu had other uses for her." Zoroark snickered again, and Absol tensed her muscles.

"If you intend to push us to a fight, you won't like the end result. Unhand Plusle now… and we will leave without a fight." Absol spoke in a low, threatening voice that sent chills down my spine whenever she spoke like that.

"You want that thing back? Raichu, put some light in here." Raichu shot a bolt of lightning at a tree, and it erupted into contained flames, and the room lit up. I gasped as I saw Plusle, bloodied, tied to a tree with vines, and two other Pokemon around her, which I recognized as Sceptile and Gengar. Plusle raised her head and cried out weakly, until Sceptile swung his tail and slammed her in the face. A squeal of pain, then she dropped her head and hung there motionlessly.

"You brutes… let my sister go! Why do you want to keep her here?!" Minun cried, almost in tears.

"For a few reasons. The first being, she trespassed into our domain. The second being, it gives me joy to watch you suffer and squirm, knowing one false word and your sister will die."

"Everybody… get ready to fight," Absol said, and I growled. Zoroark flicked his tail, and his group surged forward to meet ours. My eyes locked onto Sceptile, and I cloaked my body in flames before rocketing towards him. My power, combined with that if the Fire Gem, knocked Sceptile, fainted, down onto the ground. The recoil stung, and I paused for a second to take a look around the battlefield. Absol and Zoroark were furiously trading blows and slashes. Luxio was in a tense stalemate with Raichu, neither one taking much hit from the other Pokemon's electrical attacks. That left Gengar and Frogadier, who seemed to be having a hard time. I charged over, feeling my tail gloss over with iron, and swung it around in a full-body turn to slam it in Gengar's face. He staggered back, and it was just enough time for Frogadier to slap his hands together and send out a pulse of darkness, and as it hit Gengar, he dropped to the ground and lay there, unmoving. I heard a screech, and I turned to see Absol fly away from the battlefield, collide with a tree, and crumple to the ground. Luxio turned from Raichu to go run after her, but Raichu dug into the ground and exploded up underneath her, sending her several feet in the air, before landing with a _thud_ and not moving. Panicked, I turned to Zoroark, who grinned as he looked at me.

"Well, Flareon… you're next." Swallowing my fear, Zoroark lunged at me, and I narrowly rolled out of the way to avoid a Foul Play that could have ended my life early. Furious, I leaped up, using the ground to power my assault as I crashed into Zoroark, covered in flames. I narrowly missed, but it was enough to give Zoroark an opening to attack. I felt pain sear through my body as a Night Slash connected with my leg and knocked me to the ground. Enraged, I spun around and felt my fangs harden as I crunched down on Zoroark. Why I decided to use an attack that would hardly faze him is beyond me. He threw me off, and I felt pain course through my body as I hit the ground. Shaking off my injuries, I stood up, only to get slammed against a tree by another attack. A dizziness came over me as I looked up, and I could see my field of vision as if it was underwater. Through that, though, it wasn't hard to see Zoroark running at me with another attack. My vision cleared as he neared, and I moved to get up, but my leg wouldn't move. Panicked, I looked at it, and saw it was bent at a bad angle. _Arceus, no, this isn't how I want to die…_ I closed my eyes, and held up one paw, bracing myself. As I sensed him nearing, I could suddenly feel another presence. Then… a voice.

"I'll be your shield!" The voice sounded oddly familiar, and I opened my eyes to see Absol standing in front of- wait- _that's not Absol. Absol doesn't have wings or normally look this attractive…_ that had to be Absol, there was no doubting it. She was hovering in front of me, her wings keeping her aloft. With a piercing roar, she flipped her head back, and her hair swung around neatly behind her head. Ducking, she charged Zoroark, slamming into him and knocking him to the ground. She looked over at me, and I struggled to my feet. Limping, I was able to get to Absol's side. I saw the charm on her necklace glowing, and realized it was time for an Alliance attack. Only two of us… this must be the big finish. Zoroark was still lying on the ground. I felt my body cloak in flames, and I saw wind swirling in front of Absol. The wind hovered in place, and as I charged forward through the air, I felt the piercing winds around me as we collided with Zoroark head-on. A loud screech, and he hit the ground several meters away, visibly dead.

"Absol… thanks for that. I'm sorry I couldn't manage on my own..." I lowered my head. She put one paw under my chin and lifted my head.

"Head up." I shrugged and lifted me head and looked at her. "I've only mega evolved once before. You weren't there, but what you see right now is Mega Absol. I grow wings, and as I've been told, look much more attractive." She smiled a little.

"Yeah, I can vouch for that, you look smoking hot in your mega evolved form!" I laughed before I realized she was looking at me with a stone-cold glare. "Sorry..." I smiled awkwardly until she smiled back and waved at me with one paw, dismissively.

"Let's get the others back in shape. The journey home will be long and rough, and with your leg like that condition, we'll need Luxio to get it fixed." With that, I limped over to Luxio and nudged her. She was cold, and I laid down next to her and pressed against her to try to warm her up. I must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew, I opened my eyes to see the rest of the team standing over me. I stretched my lame leg, and was surprised to see that it fully functioned. I stood up and shook myself off.

"Are we ready to get going?" I asked, and Absol shook her head.

"Follow me, Flareon." I looked at Luxio, who looked back at me and shrugged. Frogadier did the same. I shrugged, and followed Absol into the darkness. We walked for several minutes until we gradually walked into a hollow, several feet across, and in the middle, was a mound of earth that rose up out of the ground surrounding it, and atop the mound, were six flowers, each of a different color. A marker. Absol, darkly, nodded to me, and I lowered to the ground and began to dig. I showered dirt behind me, and as I dug deeper, my claws hit something hard and solid. I dug around the object until I saw what it was. A chest, of some sort.

"Do I dig it up?" I asked, and Absol nodded. I dug out the chest until we were able to open it, and I lifted the lid "It feels somewhat wrong to loot the chest… but, oh well. It was also wrong to murder Team Electra, so perhaps this is a step in evening the score." I lifted the lid all the way and looked inside, and saw gold coins on the bottom, as well as many precious artifacts. There was no way, with this chest, we wouldn't have all the funds necessary for exploring every single corner of the globe and solving every mystery there was to solve. We would never be strapped for cash again- this was a gift from Arceus, without a doubt. I handed the artifacts, one by one, to Absol, then followed by as many gold coins as the two of us could carry. We turned away from the now-looted chest, and eventually met back with the rest of the group. Absol explained what happened, but before we turned to leave, Minun shouted from across the chamber.

"Hey! Can you help me untie my sister?"

"Crud. I totally forgot about Plusle," Absol muttered, and walked over to help Minun untie her. I looked at Luxio and Frogadier, and wordlessly, we turned and followed Absol. Once we were all there, Absol used a weakened Razor Wind, which cut through the vines. They dropped to the ground, and Plusle hit the earth with them. She shook her head, and looked up at me.

"Thanks, all of you… I know I'm normally the one to save Minun, being the older sister and all, but… this time he saved me. I can't thank you enough, and Minun… I'll stop treating you like a little baby and let you do older-Pokemon stuff." Plusle looked up at Minun, and the two smiled, and hugged. Touched by the moment the two siblings had just shared, I smiled, and could see the rest of the group doing the same. I turned back towards the way we came, and Absol stood beside me, with the rest of the group in a line behind us.

"Now..." Absol said.

"Let's go home."


	6. Epilogue One- The Heart Swap

I rolled over and looked out the window. The sun was angled just enough to shine in my window and not hurt my eyes when I looked out. If felt divine on my back, and I felt all my worries melt away. Not that there were many, but there were a couple. Then I remembered— _Oh no, Absol asked me to clean HQ while she and the team were away…_ no way that was getting done, Arceus knows how low of a chance I had to force myself to get up and actually bother to do anything. _Not happening, Absol._ I rolled back over and rested my head on the edges of my straw bed. Sleep came easily, and my dreams were peaceful, of easy dungeon explorations and lots of treasure at the end.

"FLAREON!" _Oh, Arceus please don't let that be who I think it is..._ It was Absol's voice. I groaned a little, and decided it was best if I reply.

"What do you want, Absol?" I called.

"You know what I want. I told you to clean the headquarters. Did I not, and did you get it done?"

"Uhm… maybe?" I meekly responded.

"Get out here. Now. I struggled out of bed and landed on the ground with a _thump_. I padded over to the door, and pushed it open and looked outside. All there was was an Eevee, looking up at me sweetly.

"Not now, little one. I have an angry Absol to deal with, wherever she is." I turned around and pulled the door shut, and started to walk back to my desk.

"I told you to GET OUT HERE!" Absol screeched, and I rolled my eyes and walked back to the door, opening it. The Eevee again.

"Not now. Do you know where Absol is? I keep hearing her voice."

"Open your eyes, genius. I'm speaking to you." _Did that Eevee just speak with Absol's voice… no. It couldn't have. I'm imagining this._ "Flareon! Out of your daydreams!" Clean the headquarters, now!" I must be imagining this.

"I'm going back to sleep until this makes sense to me." I turned away and shut the door, and walked back to my bed until I heard clicking, and the door opened. _That's impossible. The only other Pokémon with a key to the headquarters is Absol…_

"Flareon."

"What…" I asked, and looked over at the Eevee.

"Your mind isn't playing tricks on you. The entire team got heart swapped. You do know what that is, right?"

"Umm… no, not really. Never heard of it before," I replied.

"You get your memories and personality switched into the body of another Pokémon. I switched with an Eevee that decided to accompany us to se Manaphy, who does the heart swaps, for some reason. The two of us switched personalities. There's an Absol someplace with the personality of an Eevee. Either way… didn't I tell you to clean?"

"You're here. You do it. I want to sleep." I laid down in my bed, and as soon as I did, I felt thorn-sharp claws on the back of my neck.

"Cute Pokémon don't clean. Now get up and do it." Angrily, I stood up and picked up a feather duster. I started to clean a shelf, and looked over at Eevee.

"Tell me what all went on while I'm doing this." I continued to brush off the shelf as Eevee started to speak.

"Well, yesterday, Frogadier picked up a trivial piece of information about a Pokémon called Manaphy, who resides in a place called the Marine Resort. Apparently, if you go there, Manaphy will treat you to a temporary heart swap, usually for the price of a few blue gummis. Frogadier always carries them around, so he paid the fee. I was swapped with the Eevee, Plusle and Luxio swapped, and Frogadier and Minun swapped. Manaphy doesn't normally do cross gender swaps for certain reasons. How's the cleaning coming?"

"Fine. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing. Just curious a little. You going to be close to done soon?"

"Probably. Shouldn't take me very long. I'll be done soon." I finished dusting the shelf, and started to dust the chest.

"I'll be back soon. I'm going to go find the others."

"Okay, have fun, I should be done by the time you're back." Sighing, I picked up the pace, finishing dusting the chest, and moving on to rearranging the straw items around the headquarters neatly. They had been strewn all over the floor, so I had to put them back in their proper places. Scarves, orbs, berries… it wasn't hard to tell this was the base of an exploration team. Our entire base was decked, ceiling to floor. Mission requests tacked onto walls, team items littered about, past exploration badges decorating the space above the door… it was a homely place to live. I smiled as I looked around the room, and got a satisfied look on my face as I saw the place looking clean. I laid down in my bed, content, and drifted back off to sleep. I couldn't have been asleep for more than a half hour before I heard the door click and swing open. _Great… there goes my peace and quiet. Wonderful._ Groaning, I stood up, and faced the door.

"Good morning, sleepy head!" Luxio said cheerfully, and I looked over at her with a long look on my face. "Something the matter, darling?"

"Yeah… Absol's an Eevee. It's screwing with my head. Can you get her changed back?"

"I'm afraid we can't… the Eevee with her body ran off to a place called the Southeastern Archipelago. It'll be a serious pain to get her body back, as the Southeastern Archipelago is quite the ways away. We'll have to ride Lapras to get there."

"Well, what's stopping us from going to get her body, then?"

"I'm not keen on putting Lapras through the journey," Eevee said, and Frogadier nodded.

"It would be rude of us to ask such an incredibly long journey of Lapras. Besides, it's possible to get there on foot."

"Frogadier. It's an island. We can't get there on foot. None of us can swim."

"Right… we'll have to take Lapras, I guess…" Frogadier agreed, reluctantly. I looked around at the rest of the group.

"However… it'll be too much for all of us to go. Lapras simply won't be able to carry all six of us. Some of us will have to stay behind." Without mentioning anyone, Minun raised his hand.

"I'll stay. It's all right. Out of all of us, I'm of the least use in a dungeon."

"Minun, you've gotten a lot stronger. Never underestimate yourself," Plusle said. "But if you are staying, I'm staying as well. I'm not going to leave you behind… again." She walked over and stood by her brother, and I didn't see a point in arguing.

"I'll stay to watch the two of you. You, Eevee, and Luxio, go," Frogadier said, and I nodded my head. Wordlessly, me and Luxio gathered our stuff and made for Lapras, who was docked at the beach. Eevee slipped into Luxio's purse pack, and popped her head out, looking around as she was carried along for the ride. She looked so adorable; it almost made me want to forget I was taking her into one of the most dangerous dungeons ever known to Pokémon. Eventually, we arrived at Lapras, and briefed her on what was going on.

"Southeastern Archipelago… that's a really long ways away. But if it's only the two of you… wait, is this some sort of date?"

"Firstly, Lapras, if I was going to ask Luxio out on a date, I wouldn't put her life in danger. Secondly… I'm not there yet." I winked at Lapras, and she smiled.

"Excuse me?!" Luxio said, and cuffed me over the ear with a paw. "Since when were we anywhere like that?!"

"Don't deny it, Luxio. Just go with it. The entire town already thinks you two are a thing."

"You can't be serious…" Luxio groaned, and shook her head. "Whatever… let's just get going already." Lapras giggled as she moved close, and me and Luxio climbed aboard. I'm glad Eevee hadn't stuck her little head out, as explaining what had happened would probably make Lapras's head spin. Lapras turned away from the beach, and started out on the journey. Several hours in, Luxio looked over at me. "Hey… can I use you as a pillow? Lapras's back isn't suitable for napping really. No offense, Lapras." I looked over at her.

"Sure. I raised a paw, and she laid her head down between my paws. She smiled at me, and turned her head away and started to snore. I rested a paw on her flank, and drifted off to sleep myself.

"We're here!" Lapras said, and shook us from our sleep. I shook my head, and looked up. Luxio did the same. I saw a huge island, with a massive, dark tropical rainforest, that made buzzing sounds. Cautiously and slowly, I stepped off Lapras, Luxio behind me.

"This is the…" I said.

"Southeastern Archipelago…" Luxio finished.

"Yep!" Lapras smiled. "Have fun!" She turned away and began the journey home. I looked up at the looming rainforest, and felt a lump form in my throat. _Arceus, help us…_


	7. Epilogue Two- Inside the Archipelago

Swallowing my fear, I lead Luxio and Eevee, who was asleep, into the rainforest. We would have to turn tail and flee from almost every fight—the enemies here were far too strong for me to handle. I padded wordlessly into the dungeon, Luxio tailing me fearfully. I walked along warily, looking around every corner, and progressing incredibly slowly. I glanced around one corner, and motioned with one paw.

"Luxio, let's move," I said. No response. "Luxio?" I turned around. She wasn't there. "Oh no… Luxio, where did you go…" steeling myself, I turned around and started backtracking, retracing my steps. No sign of Luxio. Then, I rounded a corner and saw her, looking down at a switch on the ground. "Luxio? What is it?"

"It's a switch. Should I press it?"

"Why not. What's the worst that can happen?" I replied.

"A swarm of enemy Pokémon drops down and end our lives early, leaving Frogadier with nothing but mangled corpses as team members?"

"Valid point. Who cares, flip the switch!" I smiled, and Luxio slammed her paw on the switch and moved it to the opposite position. All of a sudden, the ground began to shake, and next to her, and the ground gave way to a stairwell that lead underground. "Heeeey, that's pretty good!" I laughed a bit, forgetting the danger we were in, and started walking down the stairwell. I froze as I saw a Swampert in front of me. It would kill me easily—this wouldn't be easy. It was best to run—

"Hey! You there, Flareon!" It spoke to me… what?

"Did you just… call out to me?" I asked warily in reply.

"Yes… here." Swampert held out something, and I could see it as an exploration society badge. "Me and the rest of my team are lost, we've spread out to see if we can find a way out of this place. This dungeon isn't like the others."

"How so?" I sat down next to Swampert, and he did the same.

"Well, the dungeon isn't composed like a normal dungeon. It's separated into three massive floors, the rainforest proper, the underground network of tunnels, and the canopy. Each has its own diverse set of Pokemon and obstacles. You need to traverse all three, equally, using staircases activated by switches. I assume that's how you got down here, no?"

"Correct," I replied.

"You traverse each section of the dungeon, moving between the three as you go. There will be puzzles and obstacles, and it'll be hard to run from every fight. You'll just end up unning into more, unless you're a good runner."

"Would you mind coming with us, then?" Luxio asked.

"Of course. Say, have you seen a Flygon or a Gallade around here?" Swampert replied.

"No… don't think I have. Are they your team mates?" I responded, nodding my head slowly.

"Yes, they are. We split up to look for a way out of here, and I bumped into you. There must be a bunch of teams lost in this place… it's a serious maze. I'll bet there's anywhere from three to seven teams lost in here… I've already bumped into a Mienshao who was lost here."  
"Mienshao's here? Where is she?" I asked.

"She's with Gallade. The pair are somewhere on this floor. Flygon's up on the canopy. Ground- and Flying-type Pokémon, or those that can levitate, can't do anything here. Something prevents them from flying up—Flygon tried, and couldn't. Odd. Either way, I say we stick together until we get out of here. Safety in numbers."

"Agreed. Now, let's go find Mienshao. Oddly, I took the lead, as Swampert fell in the rear, behind Luxio. I crawled through tunnels, and eventually I slammed into something.

"Hey! Watch it, or I'll cut you into—Flareon?" It was Mienshao.

"Mienshao! What are you doing here?" I asked, smiling.

"Serious treasure here, but… why are you? This place is far too dangerous for someone like you. I don't mean to offend, but if it's hard for me to hold my own without help, I'm amazed you've gotten this far."

"None taken. Where is the rest of your team?" I asked, and Luxio padded up to stand next to me.

"Altaria is with Flygon. Also, Gallade is with me." As she finished her sentence, Gallade stepped out from behind Mienshao.

"I'm here, yes. Ah, there you are, Swampert." Gallade smiled and put his arms back down by his sides. "Shall we go together, and look for the others?"

"Uhm… that isn't my choice to make." I glanced around and looked at Swampert, who nodded his head.

"Lead, Flareon," he responded, and Mienshao nodded.

"You don't seem to have much expertise in commanding those stronger than you. I'd like to see how you fare leading those more powerful than you." Nodding, I decided to lead. There wasn't much to go wrong, after all. I turned and wordlessly started walking. For a while, the only sounds I could hear were the footsteps of my companions.

"Hey. There's a switch. Should I press it?" I asked, and looked at Luxio. She shrugged.

"Go ahead." I put a paw on the switch and pushed it to the other position, and watched as a staircase shot up out of the ground and slammed into the soil, causing it to crumble and reveal a walkway. I looked back at my group, and we walked up the staircase. I blinked as harsh light met my eyes, and I realized the trees weren't as heavy here. Light was filtering through. It was odd… there was almost a lack of enemy Pokémon here. I hadn't met a single one. I shrugged. So much for difficult. All of a sudden, Eevee popped her head out of the bag.

"Hey! What did I miss?" Startled, my entire group looked at Eevee.

"Where did she come from?" Mienshao asked, staring at Eevee.

"Has she been here this entire time?" Gallade asked.

"Yes…" I responded, and proceeded to tell them what had happened with Eevee, and the heart swaps, and why we were here.

"I see…" Gallade replied, putting a hand to his chin. "How did an Absol, with the strength she has, get all the way to the end of the dungeon? It doesn't logically make sense…"

"Oh, Gallade, stop overthinking everything," Swampert laughed, and Gallade smiled.

"My overthinking has saved our lives on numerous occasions, Swampert. Don't underestimate the power of analytical thinking, it's saved your life before and I bet it will do it again."

"You're probably right," Swampert said. "All the same, it puzzles me as well. Never mind how she got there, all that's important is that we find her."

"Perhaps because she was traveling alone, it made it easier for her to slip past the enemy Pokemon?" Mienshao suggested.

"Perhaps," a voice said from behind me. I turned around to see who it was, as I didn't recognize the voice.

"Altaria!" I said, and Mienshao smiled. "And Flygon, too!"

"Yep, it's us. We've been looking all over for you. The canopy is rough. Hang on… aren't we missing somebody?" The others started looking around quizzically, until Mienshao got a look in her eyes.

"Typhlosion! We're missing Typhlosion!" She said, panicked. "He's alone here—this isn't good. He could be anywhere." With that, I turned around and started running, and I could hear my comrades on my heels. Around corners and over fallen trees, we panic-ran, passing up the first enemy Pokemon we saw in our mad rush to find Typhlosion. All of a sudden, I slammed into something big, and went down on my rump.

"What the…?" I looked up to see a Pokemon- no, that was Typhlosion! Mienshao rushed to Typhlosion, crouching over him.

"Oh, Typhlosion… what happened to you? How could this happen…" Mienshao lowered her head to the ground and started to cry. "How could you just go and die in a place like this…"

"He's dead?!" I asked, startled.

"Yes… the enemy Pokémon are is incredibly savage. They won't rest until one of the two of you is dead. I've had to do things here… that I would never, ever want to repeat. That Absol… never should have come here." Mienshao raised her head, a dark look in her eyes. "They did this to him… I'll slaughter them all."

"You don't have to kill everyone, Mienshao…" Gallade said, weakly.

"I don't care anymore. They took the life of my team mate… I will never forgive them for this. I want to know how he died." Mienshao put an arm under Typhlosion and flipped him onto his back. I almost turned around and vomited. Altaria started to cry, Gallade put an arm on her shoulder. I opened my eyes and looked at the horrific scene in front of me. Typhlosion had a long gash down his front, and it looks like he had been sliced open in front and left to bleed out. I looked down at the ground, and realized his blood had soaked into the soil. It was tainted red… this was an awful way to go. Whoever had did this to him… I wouldn't doubt Mienshao would repay the favor tenfold. Suddenly, I heard rustling in the bushes, and my group looked over to see three shadows, walking towards us. I lowered into a battle stance, until I heard Gallade cry out "Gardevoir?"

"Gallade? Is that you?" The Pokemon lowered herself to the ground, and walked forward, the other two on either side, and as she walked into view— _Oh my Arceus, that's the most beautiful Pokemon I have ever seen! I wonder if she's single?_

"No, Flareon, I'm not. Yes, I can read your thoughts. My name… is Gardevoir. This is Lopunny, and this is Medicham."

"You're all super-hot!" I said, smiling.

"Flareon! Excuse me? Must you flirt with every single female Pokemon you lay eyes on? What happened to me?" Luxio asked, looking at me accusingly.

"Nothing happened to you, dearest Luxio. It's just my way!" I smiled and she cuffed me over the head with one paw.

"Get a room!" Eevee said, sticking her head up out of Luxio's bag.

"I'm aware. We're called Team Charm for a reason, you aren't the only one, and oh my, that Eevee is the cutest thing! I have just the thing for you!" Gardevoir smiled, and dug into her bag. She pulled out a tiny little dress, and handed it to Eevee. Eevee slipped it on, and she looked adorable. While Gardevoir was having a ball dressing Eevee up, all the female Pokemon gave their five cents on the accessorizing. I hung back and tapped Gallade on the shoulder. He looked down at me.

"What's up, Flareon?" He asked, and I looked at him, stupefied.

"Are you and her…?" I replied.

"Yeah! We've been together for a while. Paws off, my boy," He said, and punched me back on the shoulder teasingly.

"Nah. But all I can say is good job, that's pretty good, if I do say so myself," I said, grinning.

"Thanks. Wasn't easy, Gardevoir was very hard to convince. I actually had to get Lopunny, who's been a friend for a while, to get her to go out with me the first time. Now let me tell you, that 'hey, I think your best friend is hot, can you set me up with her' conversation was the most awkward I have ever been in!"

"I bet it was. Let's take a look at Eevee." I squeezed through Altaria and Mienshao and looked at Eevee. She was wearing a frilly pink dress, a sparkly black ribbon, a purple bow, a tiny little leather purse, and tiny pink slippers. "You look like something out a show!" I laughed.

"Shut it, you! I'm more pretty than you will ever be!" she glared at me, and everyone laughed.

"I'm a guy. I need to be just attractive enough to net me a lady Pokemon. Nothing more. No dresses involved, sweet cheeks."

"What did you just call me? I'll have you know—"

"Quiet, sweet cheeks. Let's keep moving."

"Argh… all right, if you say so. Let's get out of this place." Gardevoir picked up Eevee, and sat her down on top of her head. "Onward!" Eevee said, and our team started walking to the end of the dungeon. Eventually, we came to a giant staircase that lead up to the canopy.

"This must be the exit, to the end of the dungeon…" I said.

"Flareon, lead us. Let's go… get Absol's body back."


	8. Epilogue Three- The Way Back Home

I set a paw on the staircase, tentatively testing the leafy surface. After slamming my forepaws down on it with force, I determined it wouldn't budge under the weight of my party. Nodding my head towards the top of the stairs, shrouded in darkness, I started up the stairs, Mienshao and Luxio at my heels. About halfway up, Meinshao turned around and addressed the rest of the group.

"Listen, everyone. Not all of us needs to go up. I don't want to scare the thing away with the dozen or so of us that we have. I say only myself, Flareon, and Luxio should go. That way we won't scare Absol off."

"Agreed. The rest of you wait here, and make sure we don't get any trouble from behind," I said. I watched the rest of my group nod in unison, then the three of us, Eevee in tow, turned and walked up the stairs. The stairs were longer than any of us had thought, and eventually Luxio collapsed. "Luxio!" I said, and darted over to her. Mienshao bent down over her, and looked at me.

"I'll handle this. Take her bag, Flareon." I obediently pulled Luxio's bag off, put it around my shoulder, then watched as Mienshao hoisted Luxio up onto her shoulders and wordlessly turned and started walking up the stairs. I shrugged and started after her. Luxio's bag felt small and tight on my bulky shoulders, as the bag was contorted to her slim and graceful figure. I had a much stockier and heavyset build than she did, with broader shoulders and larger muscles. Luxio was more delicate, with a slim, wiry figure with tight muscles in her legs for running. Again, I was the powerhouse of the team, so it made sense for me to always look like I just used Bulk Up. I followed Mienshao up the stairs, endlessly and endlessly, until she stopped.

"Mienshao?" I asked.

"I'm fine, I just need a… uh..." I dropped Luxio's bag as Mienshao dropped to the ground.

"Mienshao!" I ran over to her and poked her a couple times with my paw. "She isn't… I'll have to go up on my own… I can't take carry her with me." Shrugging sadly, I turned and headed up the stairs. They went so much farther than I ever would have thought… I couldn't see it from the outside. Then again, I must be in the clouds. Going at this alone would be incredibly difficult… but onward I climbed, climbing into the heavens. At long last I saw three lights ahead of me, and a shape. It had its back to me, and I stepped into the large room. Most of the room was dark, and I heard three voices speak at once.

"Welcome, Flareon." One of them kicked over one of the lights, and the room lit up in flames. Three Absol… This would get ugly. I lowered into a fighting stance.

"Which one of you has my friend's body?" I growled, looked at each of them in turn.

"That's for..."

"Us to know..."

"And you to find out."

"Just tell me which one of you it is, so I can beat the other two into the ground," I said with a snarl. The three advanced towards me, stepping in such sync it made me shiver. I growled again, and one of them leaped at me. I felt its claws dig into my back and watched the other two run at me. I shook the one off and turned to the other, who was running towards me with a vicious snarl on its face. Dropping to one knee, I hit the ground in a hasty roll aside, causing the two to slam into each other. I used the ground as a launchpad to send myself through the air, low to the ground, as I crashed into one of the Absol, using my momentum to send it slamming to the ground. I landed back on the ground and whirled around to look at the other two, who were circling me even distances away.

I would have to find out which of them had Absol's body by looking at subtle clues in their bodies… fur texture, scars, etc. It would be hard, if not impossible, to do in the heat of battle, and there was no guarantee the Absol I was searching for was here. _Absol has a small scar above her right leg…_ Circling around, I scanned the two remaining Absol for a small parting in the fur above their right hind legs. I couldn't make it out quite before one of them sprang at me. Dropping into a roll again, I rolled away from the Absol and stood up quickly, turning to face them again. The other Absol was advancing, and I could feel sweat beginning to form on my forehead. I would have to finish this fast before I wore down. I let my gaze flit to the Absol on the ground, and I saw a tiny part in the fur above it's right leg. _That's the one!_ Fixing my gaze on one of the others, I drew my claws and slammed them down on one of the Absol, then turned to the other, who was looking terrified.

"Run. Now. And I will guarantee your life. If you don't… I'll cut you down right here" Terrified, the Absol turned around and fled into the darkness. Satisfied, I looked over to the last remaining Absol and felt the area around the top of its leg. Sure enough, there was a short pink weal that had no fur growing on it. "Now how am I going to get this thing down all those stairs..." I thought out loud. I could only think of one thing to do as the Absol blinked its eyes open and looked up at me. Raising a paw, I slammed it down on the Absol's head, and its eyes dropped, and its head hit the ground. I had knocked it out cold. Reaching into Luxio's pack, I pulled out several reinforced vines and started to wrap them around the Absol's legs. When I was satisfied I had rolled the Absol into a bundle that could resist a tumble down several dozen flights of soft, leafy stairs, I pushed Absol's body onto the steps and watched it tumble down. Happy, I trotted down after it, and finally came to Mienshao.

"Flareon… did you win?" she asked, looking up at me from where she was lying.

"Yep, I did. Let's get out of here. Can you walk?"

"I think so..." Mienshao struggled to her feet and started down after me, an unconscious Luxio in tow. After hours of descending stairs, we came to face my group, looking at the two of us, smiling.

"You did it, Flareon!" Gallade said, patting me on the shoulder.

"Yes, well done, Flareon," Swampert said, looking at me with pride. "You've done good work here."

"Well, this is all fine and dandy… but how are we going to get home?" Gardevoir asked, and I realized with a start that I never scheduled a pickup time for Lapras. If we didn't think of something, we would be stuck on this miserable island for good. I started looking at my group, and we all looked at each other helplessly until Altaria reached into her bag and pulled out a stone.

"This is an Altarianite. With it, I can Mega Evolve into Mega-"

"Can it, Altaria. We know how Mega Evolution works," Flygon said.

"As I was saying… I can turn into Mega Altaria, and fly us back home. Piece of cake."

"You sure all of us will fit…?" Lopunny asked nervously.

"Sure. I've carried far heavier loads. Now, everybody, please stand back..." Altaria raised the stone into the air, and I watched in awe as a sphere of rainbow energy condensed around Altaria, and when the sphere broke, she looked like a giant Altaria cloud. One by one, we climbed on her back, and took seats here and there. I rode the journey squeezed between Gardevoir, who I didn't mind, and Swampert, who I did. At one point, Swampert tried to make a joke, but Medicham punched him in the flank. He sat in silence the rest of the trip. The next morning, after flying all through the night, we landed in Treasure Town. Altaria lowered herself to the ground, and we all climbed off.

"Did you manage that, Altaria?" Gallade asked, Gardevoir leaning on him.

"Yeah, I'm… fine..." Altaria wheezed, and coughed. "But, can we never do that again..."

"Agreed," Swampert said, then turned to look at me. "Well, Flareon… you've returned. I assume you have work to do?" he asked.

"Yep. I've got plenty." I turned away and beckoned to Luxio, who stood beside me.

"What now, Flareon?"

"Luxio… let's go home. We've got work to do."


End file.
